Hiatus hernia and palpitations

[Horse6]

Does anyone else have a hernia and palpitations? What treatment is there for this please. Iam seeing a cardiologist on the 15th August and it seems all the tests have come up,with nothing except the hernia . Any input would be great thanks

[Hidden]

I have a hernia and palpitations. As far as I’m aware, in my own case, the two are not linked, although we know that irritation of the vagus nerve - which is the nerve running between the brain and stomach, and that travels closely past the heart - can cause palpitations, particularly premature contractions, or ectopic beats as they’re more colloquially known. Eating can therefore trigger palpitations for some people, and hiatal hernias can do the same.

With the caveat that I’m not medically qualified: these days they only operate on hernias if they’re more than 6cm, so whether they do anything about the hernia itself will depend on the size. It’s also worth bearing in mind that palpitations as a word literally just means having an awareness of your heart beating, and having palpitations - whilst unsettling - doesn’t necessarily indicate there’s anything wrong. Feeling your heart beating after a fright or strenuous exercise is the same thing and entirely normal. If the rate and rhythm are normal, then more often than not it’s classed as just one of those things. People sometimes assume they must always be a bad thing because if you do have an irregular heart rhythm (an arrhythmia), you can have palpitations during an episode, so people often use the term for that when what they really mean is an episode of arrhythmia causing palpitations. But there are also plenty of people with arrhythmias that don’t have palpitations, or any obvious symptoms, when they’re having episodes. If all your tests have come back normal, I’d say it’s fairly unlikely the cardiologist will say or do much of anything. If they’re really frequent and distressing, then they might offer you a beta-blocker, but that’s about the lot unless there’s a problem, and some people find they don’t get on well with betas.

For many people, once a problem has been ruled out, palpitations do become something you just have to learn to live alongside. But that tends to be easier to do once you’ve had anything worrying conclusively ruled out.

[Horse6 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for all your input. Iam already on a beta blocker and a blood thinner. I will ask the cardiologist about the relationship between a hiatus hernia and the palpitations. They just said my hernia was big . I’m glad it would appear I haven’t got any heart disease so perhaps I can stop worrying.

[Hidden in reply to Horse6]

I was told 6cm and above is considered big by gastro standards, so assuming they’re going off the same definition, it may be that they do something about your hernia, which might potentially help the palpitations in turn. Mine is 4cm, so I just keep taking a combination of PPIs to keep the severe reflux I have under control and carry on.

Fingers crossed you get some helpful answers from cardiology. Take care.

[Horse6 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks how do you know how big your hernia was? They just said mine was large !

[Hidden in reply to Horse6]

It was found via endoscopy in April -when they do an endoscopy (put a camera down to examine the oesophagus and stomach), they can measure how big it is. I’d had really severe reflux and GERD for about a decade, but no one had bothered to investigate why. Gastro were horrified it had been ignored for so long without trying to establish the cause.

[Ourdill]

I had a heart attack 2yrs ago with a stent fitted, but have also recently have been diagnosed with a hiatus hernia just last month.. (unsure if they are related or not🤷🏻‍♂️)they said mine is about 2cm but it was causing issues getting food and drink down to my stomach as it kinda closed off involuntarily . I now also take 20mg of omeprazole 2x daily along with my other heart meds.. it's some kind of gastro relief and works very well so far.. I haven't had the issues like I had previously

[gladliz in reply to Ourdill]

Have you been taking Omeprazole for any length of time, as it can affect your levels of Potassium and that can be nasty. I was taking it for hiatus/acid reflux problems and ended up with an episode of Afb. In A&E the bloods they took showed low levels and I spent 2 days on a ward being fed potassium tablets. Found out later when mentioned this to local pharmasist that I should have been having regular blood tests to monitor levels as too high or low can affect heart. Dr never mentioned this when prescribing . Only take Gaviscon when necessary now.

[Horse6 in reply to gladliz]

I’ve been taking it for around 5years no one has mentioned about the potassium levels so I will check that thanks

[Ourdill in reply to gladliz]

I have a blood check every 3 months. Peace of mind with all the meds I take. Been taking omeprazole since they found the hernia around 10 weeks ago, and I have noticed recently that I'm getting fatigued after just eg: walking up and down the stairs.. my bloods come back fine tho.. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[nilmonisikdar40]

Hi Horse, Is your hiatus hernia been diagnosed after certain tests like a barium swallow to see if a part of the stomach has herniated through the weak part of diaphragm. Have the medics classified your condition as SLIDING HIATUS HERNIA OR A PARAOESPHAGEAL ONE. I suffer from severe heart burn which the cardiologist has put down to H.H. and has asked me to change my antacids. I am not convinced because ischaemic heart disease can mimic like heart burn because it has been recognised as a atypical symptom. Are you overweight and do your reflux symptoms worse when you are lying flat on your back. As far as I can recollect nobody I know had surgical operation to correct the hernia. Treatment basically is reduction of weight, avoid large meal at all times and instead few frequent meals and medication to reduce acidity in stomach. Glad to share my story

[Horse6 in reply to nilmonisikdar40]

Thanks for sharing. I’m a bit overweight but not much. Don’t know what type of hernia I have only when I had a mri for my heart they said the hernia was large! hoping they will sort it all out soon. I take a PPI which helps but can’t sleep on my left side. I did have an ablation for AF about 9 years ago and have been fine since.

[seniorita]

I've had acid reflux and GERD for years but it wasn't until I had a gastroscopy for something else they found a 3 cm sliding hiatus hernia.Since getting AF I have found that each irritates the other.

I can't take PPIs and H2 antagonists aren't as effective, or the hernia has worsened in the past 2 years.

I would prefer surgery to correct this rather than any cardiac procedure, but they won't even repeat the gastroscopy.

I don't understand why they're so obsessed with numbers rather than how it affects a patient's life.

[Horse6 in reply to seniorita]

Sorry to hear they won’t help you. I do take a PPI which does help the indigestion but not the heart problem.

[Organplayer in reply to seniorita]

Hi, I too have suffered like you for many years, nothing helped and I was actually living on such bland foods and thoroughly depressed! Is also have severe heart problems! The last endoscope procedure showed my stomache as well as Hiatus Hernia my stomache was acutely inflamed and covered with what looked like white fungus! This was up in my osophegas too, in fact a proper mess! I told my gastroenterologist that I didn’t feel like life was worth living with this constant pain. I had tried everyone of the PPIs and was allergic to all the”prazoles” he was very kind and said., right, let’s try this! So now I take one 20mgFamotidine in the morning and at night! During the day I take 10/20ml of Peptic liquid 4 times daily(Alginate A Raft forming oral suspension) for the last 6 months I feel so much better, so much less pain and discomfort, can now eat a much more varied diet, I hope this can help you as you have to experienced the constant stomache pain to truly understand just how debilitating in can be! The gastric erosions in my stomach must be healing too, as I have said, I feel so much better! Sometimes the old fashioned treatments are better, tho Famitidine is a deritative of the banned ranitidine!!!!Yours sincerely Organplayer!

[nilmonisikdar40 in reply to Organplayer]

A very good piece of writing and suggestion. I have asked Famotidine and they won't prescribe for me.

[Organplayer in reply to nilmonisikdar40]

You can but Pepcid over the counter it says ( Famitidine on the label)

[seniorita in reply to Organplayer]

I found Ranitidine really effective, more so than Famotodine. I take mine in 2x 20mg doses too.I was given Gaviscon liquid, but it prevented me from even drinking water. I'll look at the Peptic suspension. Thank you.

[ayrulk]

Hello I was getting palpitations at night which woke me up. Had various investigations and told heart was OK. However by chance a new cardiologist discovered it was an electrical failure and as an emergency was fitted with a pacemaker . Now no problems and all ok. However during MRI for heart they discovered a hyetius hernia. However never had any symptoms of this. Hope this helps .

[Horse6 in reply to ayrulk]

Yes it does thank you.

[Dollybears]

I had some problems a couple of year's a go with high blood pressure rapid heart rate dizzyness and then chest pain I was referred for further tests and found to have some narrowing of the lad not bad enough to need a stent but my results were sent back day after I had the CT angiogram but unfortunately we're addressed to the wrong person so didn't get looked at for nearly 6 month's and as I was still having health problems whilst the mistake was sorted I was sent for the camera down stomach I was diagnosed with sliding hiatus hernia 3cm and also sent for further heart scans and CT chest as they had picked up air on my lung on the original angiogram that got addressed to the wrong person nightmare as I had phoned for the results 3 week's after having the angiogram to be told if it had shown anything wrong it would have been sent back within 24/48 hours well guess what it had but didn't have right person's name on it I am now on Bisoprolol amongst other meds but I truly believe that my hiatus hernia was irritating the vagus nerve and causing me all sorts of problems but that's my opinion I still take meds for the other things connected to the heart issues but believe in my case that the hernia is the culprit but can't take the chance of not taking the meds just incase I wish you luck in getting sorted.

[Horse6 in reply to Dollybears]

Thank you